223944 Pte. George Scott Forrest British Army 1st Btn East Yorkshire Regiment from:Leeds (d.16th Sept 1916) George Scott Forrest was my my paternal Grandmother’s brother and although his family home was in Leeds, at the time he went to war he was boarding in Sunderland and his occupation was Theatrical Theatre Agent. A pleasant and gentle life not comparable to the horrors of the trenches in WW1 which makes me feel so emotional. George sailed off to France from Southampton on 21st June 1916 aged 30. He landed in Le Havre 22nd June 1916. By 16 September 1916 he was dead – “missing†- and has no grave but is honoured on the Thiepval Memorial. He was in battle between 12 September – 15 September 1916 – and like many thousands of brave young men his life was destroyed mindlessly – sacrificed as ‘cannon fodder’ by the Generals conducting the event. George was blown to bits at a young age – a happy life brutally and unreasonably cut short.
George was awarded the WW1 Victory Medal - this was posthumous and would have been sent to his parents, my Great Grandparents, John and Janet. So sad. One day I mean to visit the Thiepval Memorial and lay some flowers for Uncle George.
My Grandmother, Eva Forrest never mentioned her brothers and I had assumed they were both killed in WW1 – however whilst researching George I discovered his brother Herbert emigrated to America, took part in the same theatre of war, survived and I am now in regular touch with his descendants who still live in the same area of US.
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